Bollywood- ABCD

"ABCD- Anybody Can Dance"

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With all this nonstop talk about "amazing Bollywood films," living with a Tollywood movie star, and seeing hundreds of poster advertisements everyday on my way to work, I figured my taste of India would not be complete without seeing a Bollywood film. I asked my resident/fellow for some advice on how to see a movie here on my own and where to go, and she offered to go with me Monday after work! Out of the movies playing at the theater, of course I chose, "ABCD- Anybody Can Dance." :) We took a cab to a local theater and bought our tickets ($3 each!). Then we got our 3D glasses, which I doused in hand sanitizer (my OCD tendencies are in full force here....), and then waited in line to get into our show. When the previews were over, everyone started standing up. I was confused. My resident tapped on my shoulder and nodded her head for me to stand. Suddenly on the screen the India National Anthem came on. Apparently this happens at every film! Then there were several advertisements saying, "If you smoke cigarettes or drink alcohol, you WILL get cancer!" Their advertising is very dramatic here. Every time anyone smokes on film, they have a little mini anti-smoking-ad pop up in the corner. Although much evidence has shown that tobacco does indeed increase the risk of cancer, I have not seen any literature on deodorant.... My roommate tells me that many people here have mentioned their fear of cancer from deodorant. They claim they won't use it because they don't want to die from cancer. Perhaps it was an ad in the past, or simply just a cultural difference, but the fear of cancer from deodorant is news to me... 

Anyways- after the National Anthem and ads, the movie started playing. It was in Hindi and had a few English phrases scattered here and there. Every time they said a phrase or word that I knew in Hindi, I would get excited and start smiling. My resident would nudge me, as if to say, "you know that one!" After the little bit of dialogue, the movie basically consisted of 2 1/2 hours of "So you think you can dance." So yes, of course, I loved it! It was definitely a fun movie, but I guess I was expecting something a little more different than our films. It seemed very Americanized. My resident was telling me that their films have become more and more influenced by the west. However, there were several parts of the movie that made it unique to India. (Besides that it was obviously in a different language...)
First of all, many of the scenes were filmed here in Mumbai! It was fun being able to recognize the buildings, marine drive, the sea link, etc. There were many familiar things I see riding into work in the morning (rickshaws, little markets, beautiful colors in the clothes they wear, fruits/veggies strategically piled on little carts to be sold), but my resident was laughing at how very idealized it was. For example, she pointed out that the little kids from the slums were in nice clothes and shoes dancing and running around in the background. In reality, the little ones on the streets here don't exactly have that luxury...

Another unique part of the movie was a scene with a dance dedicated to the Hindu deity, Ganesh. My resident reminded me that this was referring to the very important Hindu Ganesha Chaturthi Festival, also known as "Vinayaka Chavithi", that she had explained to me before. It's a festival done every year here during the Hindu month of Bhadra (mid Aug-Sep) to celebrate as the birthday of Lord Ganesha. My resident told me that from windows of the Hinduja Hospital, you can see everyone crowding at the beach to dunk their little Ganesh figurines into the Arabian Sea. Over the next couple weeks, as the tide goes down, you can see thousands of little Ganesh statues in the water until they get washed away. I told her that there must be a treasure collection of billions of little Ganesh's somewhere deep in the Indian Ocean/Arabian Sea from the many years of this tradition. So this scene was dedicated to that very important festival here. It was a very cool dance, colorful, with beautiful traditional saris and turbans, jewelry, and many figurines of Lord Ganesha. It was also portrayed as a deeply emotional, religious/spiritual moment. It's amazing how religion plays such a prominent role in their lives here. It's everywhere. There are little shrines on the streets, in the taxi cabs, on advertisements, and in the films. In my country, we have separation of church and state. In school, we learn about the different religions in our courses, but actual religious practices seem to be more discrete. Here in India, religion seems to be more publicly displayed. It's everywhere you look. It's a part of the culture. It's part of India.

Next was intermission (they break in the middle of the movies here), and I had my first experience trying to figure out how to use the "toilets" in public restrooms. Here they have the toilet placed as a hole in the ground, and a wash hose thing (which I'm not sure how to use....and am perfectly satisfied with my ignorant bliss), and no toilet paper. So! Words of wisdom that were given to me before I came here- if you plan on coming to India, pack some extra toilet paper! :) I have been hiking/backpacking before, so I was able to manage pretty well. And of course, as always, I washed my hands vigorously with soap and water, as if I'm back in the OR, and shook them dry (because they don't use paper towels here either). My resident laughs at me because she thinks I'm ridiculous. She thinks I'm a little obsessive about cleanliness and being cautious of what I eat/drink. [Personally, I think I have been very brave and have tried almost everything! that's cooked... :) ] She tells me that everyone in America gets sick when they come to India because "we're too pure over there." haha. She says we're afraid of germs. I tell her, "Yea...we do things a little differently over there..." (although she's probably getting an extreme example by working w/ me...). One thing is for sure though, the immune systems of the people here must be top notch! Especially on the streets, where people eat and sleep in the same place...as everything else.. They can eat the fruits and veggies that have been sitting on the ground and don't get sick from the water. My resident and I have discussed this and think we should do a study comparing immune systems and antibody levels of Americans compared to Indians.
[Apologies to those who were completely grossed out by this paragraph and are thinking, "wow...way too much information."- sorry mom...] Just trying to share "the whole India experience." :)

After the movie was over, everyone clapped and whistled. My life is now one step closer to being complete. I have seen a Bollywood and a Tollywood film, in India. :)
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